The Mint Julep, a distinctive Southern drink, popular in the ante bellum SouthThe Mint Julep...umm-m-m
right up through modern times, is a mixture of water, sugar, mint leaves and,
above all, bourbon whiskey. While it can be purchased today in modern drinking
establishments in the South, those served there bear little resemblance to those
served in the home. The serving of this elixir to family and guests on a hot summer
afternoon was, and is, accomplished with the greatest fanfare and flourish to show respect for those receiving it. It is as much of a ceremony as it is a drink. and taken seriously by their maker. Care and effort are demanded as the first ingredients of a Mint Julep...
Silver mugs are often used for juleps, as some people think they frost better than
glass. A glass mug with a handle may also be used so that the hands need not
touch the frosted surface.In Lanterns on the Levee (1941), William Alexander Percy recalls his mother's recipe for making mint juleps:How to Make a Mint Julep"Certainly her juleps had nothing in common with those hybrid concoctions one buys in bars the world over under that name. It would have been sacrilege to add lemon, or a slice of orange or of pineapple, or one of those wretched
maraschino cherries. First you needed excellent bourbon whiskey; rye or Scotch would not do at all. Then you put half an inch of sugar in the bottom of the glass and merely dampened it with water. Next, very quickly--and here was the trick in
the procedure--your crushed your ice, actually powdered it, preferably in a towel with a wooden mallet, so quickly that it remained dry, and, slipping two sprigs of fresh mint against the inside of the glass, you crammed the ice in right to the brim, packing it with your hand. Last you filled the glass, which apparently had no room left for anything else, with bourbon, the older the better, and grated a bit of nutmeg on the top. The glass immediately frosted and you settled back in your chair for half an hour of sedate cumulative bliss. Although you stirred the sugar at the bottom, it never all melted, therefore at the end of the half hour there was left a delicious mess of ice and mint and whiskey which a small boy was allowed to consume with calm rapture."William Alexander Percy, Lanters on the Levee: Recollections of a Planter's Son, (Baton Rouge: Louisiana University Press 1994)
There are many, many recipes for mint juleps. This is one served in several restaurants around the state. It is traditionaly enjoyed when served in a silver julep cup. It's also very good in a glass!
Heat water. Whisk in sugar. Remove from heat. Add mint & allow to steep for at least 20 minutes.Syrup1/4 cup Fresh mint leaves
2 cups Water, heated
2 cups Sugar
Add cracked ice to glass. Add 1 1/2 oz Bourbon. Add 2 1/2 syrup. Stir lightly. Garnish with fresh mint leaf. Traditionaly served with two short straws.Prepare a simple syrup by boiling together 2 parts sugar to 1 part water for 5 minutes.
Prepare a bourbon-mint extract, made by piling mint leaves in a clean white handkerchief, gathering ends around mint, and dipping the leaf in a small bowl of 3-4 ounces of bourbon and twisting hard.Mix extract with syrup until the first "ping" of bitterness is reached (from mint, not bourbon)
Prepare mint julep mix by combining 1 part syrup with 6 parts bourbon.
Pack julep cup with shaved ice. Pour in 2 1/2--3 oz. Or chilled julep mix. Add straw, powdered sugar and mint sprig.Several mint leaves (crushed)
1 tsp powdered sugar
Splash of water
1 1/2 oz Brandy
1 oz. Peach Brandy
Crushed ice
4 sprigs fresh mint
1 teaspoon superfine sugar
3 ounces bourbon
Fill a collins glass with crushed ice. In a small glass, muddle the leaves from two
mint sprigs with sugar and a dash of club soda or water. Add bourbon, stir and
strain into a collins glass. Stir again with a long-handled spoon until the glass frosts. A slice each of orange and lemon, a pineapple spear
and maraschino cherry are sometimes used for garnish, and a splash of rum or
brandy may be added to the drink.
Serves 12 cups chopped fresh mint sprigs plus additional whole sprigs for garnish3/4 cups sugar
Crushed Ice
1 1/2 ounces (1 jigger) bourbon, or to taste, per julep
In a saucepan combine the sugar and 3/4 cup water and bring the mixture to a
boil, stirring until the sugar is dissolved. Remove the pan from the heat, stir in the
chopped mint, and let the mixture stand for at least 2 hours and up to 4 hours.
Strain the syrup through a fine sieve into a jar or small bowl, pressing hard on the
solids, discard the solids, and let the syrup cool. The syrup may be made 2
weeks in advance and kept covered and chilled. (The syrup will darken but this
will not affect the taste.)
For each julep fill a silver cup or 10-ounce glass with some of the ice, add 1 to 2
tablespoons of the mint syrup, or to taste, and 1 1/2 ounces bourbon, and stir the
julep or holding the cup at the rim rotate it back and forth very rapidly. (A frost
will form on the outside of a silver cup.) Garnish each julep with 1 of the
additional mint sprigs.
Makes about 1 1/4 cups syrup, or enought for about 10 juleps.
6 fresh mint leaves plus 1 mint sprig for garnish
1 teaspoon superfine sugar, or to taste
2 teaspoons water
crushed ice
1 1/2 ounces (1 jigger) bourbon
In a silver julep cup or 10-ounce glass crush together with the back of a spoon
the mint leaves, the sugar, and the water until the suger is dissolved and fill the
cup with the ice. Add the bourbon, stir the julep well, and garnish it with the mint
sprig.
Makes 1 drink.
4 ounces bourbon
6 sprigs of mint
2 tablespoons simple syrup
Mix 4 ounces bourbon, 6 sprigs of mint, and 2 tablespoons simple syrup in a pint
glass. Add three pieces of ice and muddle for about a minute. Let stand for
several minutes. Strain into a glass filled with shaved ice. For guests who
particularly like mint, remove the three pieces of ice, leave the mint, and pour all
ingredients into the glass followed by fresh fresh ice. Top with soda water and a sprig
of mint.
In a mixing glass half-filled with ice cubes, combine all of the ingredients. Stir well. Strain into a cocktail glass.Miss Belle
Ingredients:
1 1/2 oz Dark rum
1/2 oz Grand marnier
2 tsp Dark Creme de cacao
Mixing instructions:
Ingredients:1/2 oz Brandy
1/2 oz white Creme de cacao
1/2 Benedictine
Mixing instructions:Pour the brandy into a pousse cafe glass. Tilt the glass to a 45-degree angle and slowly pour the creme de cacao down the
side of the glass so that it floats on the brandy. Repeat this precedure with the Benedictine.
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